“The Travel Companion” (2025) revolves around Simon (Tristan Turner), a filmmaker who lives with his best friend since third grade, Bruce (Anthony Oberdeck). Bruce works for an airline and gets to choose someone to be his travel companion for a year, which means that person gets free plane tickets on standby. When Simon introduces Bruce to Beatrice (Naomi Asa), a fellow filmmaker, Simon and Beatrice hit it off, which throws Simon into a tailspin about whether he will get to keep the tickets so he can finish the film. How will Simon survive without these tickets?
I watch horror movies to relax, but films about secondhand embarrassment are my horror films. Given the choice between “Friendship” (2025) and “The Travel Companion,” I’d prefer the latter every time because it feels ripped from real life. Simon cannot help himself. He becomes so focused on these tickets that he begins to lose sight of his relationships, his successes and what he can lose in the process. He also lacks the perspective to realize that these tickets are not just symbols of a chance of future success as a filmmaker, but security in his friendship and being resistant to the changes of adulthood.
Cowriters Weston Auburn, Alex Mallis and Travis Wood (the latter two are also codirectors) pace the film perfectly to show the relationship shifts and individual personalities. Initially Simon is the bridge between Bruce and Beatrice, and Simon and Bruce are closer. As Simon and Beatrice’s relationship solidifies, there is a tantalizing possibility of Beatrice and Simon moving from professional collaborators to closer friends. The scale tips as Simon continues to fixate on the tickets even more than his film, which is supposed to be the point of the tickets. His relationship with Jafar (Anil Joseph), an actor and cab driver who helps Simon in his day job, is comparatively healthier because Jafar keeps Simon on task with his career and in the most affirming way possible, holds him accountable. Simon is his worst self with his closest friend as if he is testing the limits of how unconditional their friendship is, but he functions successfully in his day job. “The Travel Companion” never answers an unspoken question: is Simon capable of any personal relationships, family, friendships or romantic, since he is only depicted with Simon and Beatrice? At some point, he becomes worse than a third wheel, and it is heartbreaking to watch.
Bruce is a tricky role to write and play because he could come off as a guy choosing his latest girlfriend over his longtime friend, and that never happens. He is a simple guy without the lofty dreams of Simon, but he also has reasonable requests: a quiet home, some sun, an undisturbed work environment. He communicates his boundaries to Simon but becomes the exploding doormat when Simon does not take the explicit note or the hint. If he has a flaw, it is not that he does not say no in a more gradual but forceful tone before it hits intolerable levels. Even though it is obvious and should go without saying, when Simon starts to invade his date nights, Beatrice is welcoming, and Simon is silently resentful. Beatrice and Bruce needed to agree on their plan then Bruce should execute it. Would Simon have stopped? Maybe, if earlier, Bruce just stopped giving him tickets and given an explicit answer earlier instead of a vague one. Dragging out potential conflict instead of decisively resolving it is always a bad idea.
“The Travel Companion” does a really good job of conveying how Beatrice is a catch professionally and personally. There are tons of casual moments where Beatrice is just doing her thing, and she is killing it professionally. There is never a moment when it is not obvious why she is achieving her dreams, and Simon is not, which is not how life often works. People who are successful are not always merit based. When she draws a firm line with Simon, it is totally appropriate and maybe even long overdue, but she appears to be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. There is a scene where Simon looks at some photographs that Beatrice took, and one shows Simon and Bruce during the good old days. It proves how much she loves Bruce and wants to preserve the friendship but is also not willing to self-abandon. Asa even acts perfectly in the photographs because before her backstory is revealed, she is drenched in the emotion of the situation that she will later articulate.
“The Travel Companion” often feels like a documentary in the way that it takes in spaces, exterior and interior, then the camera gradually focuses on the subject. It reflects life, and the lesson that Simon needs to learn. Every individual is only part of a bigger world around them, and it is important not to forget it. The sound department did an amazing job, and Christopher Nolan needs to hire them because they capture the sounds of the city while keeping the dialogue audible. It is extra challenging because sometimes the speakers are not in an obvious location in the shot, so the eye is searching for them while the sound is sharp and in focus. It should be a disorienting combination, but it kept me absorbed in the story—an adult “Where’s Waldo?” Every element of the production reinforced this lesson, and in the last scene, when the sound deliberately fails in the context of the story, it is because the moviegoers already know the weight of the answer. It is almost impossible to articulate because of the depth of emotion involved.
“The Travel Companion” is superb in finding the balance of showing and not telling and giving the audience exactly what they needed without painfully spelling it out. It juggles multiple worlds and depicts them in organic ways. The airport standby scenes feel authentic. How did they get permission to shoot in an airport? Beginning the movie in the film festival circuit felt like the most amateurish part of the movie, which also made it perfect because as the scene unfolds, it turns out there is a reason for it, and it is a brilliant shorthand way to establish Simon’s place in the professional world. Simon’s boss (Peter Fairman) is another minor foil to Simon, someone who is satisfied with his place in life and cannot fathom Simon’s discontent when Simon is so good at his job. Even mercifully Blackie the Cat (Darryl Peters) has a fulfilled storyline and acts as another foil to Simon. He is a little point of hope. When there is ambiguity, it is earned and perhaps deserved.
If you are going through some turbulent friendship relationship issues, staying away from “The Travel Companion” may be a good idea because it could trigger you, but if you are looking for a realistic movie about male friendships, identity crisis mixed with transition issues and challenges of finding yourself professionally, this movie is perfect for you. It offers an image of a realistic happy ending with consequences. A24, call these filmmakers!
